Matthew Bible Studies

This is obviously just a preliminary action, introducing the act of teaching.

The content of the Sermon on the Mount is teaching with the intention to inform, but also to inspire to action, based on the newly learned information. Here Jesus began the actual activity of teaching, described in the next few chapters.

This blessing is applicable, Jesus said, when people insult you. The word when makes the blessing conditional on the situation Jesus was describing. But this is a positive promise - whenever people insult us in this way, we can expect to receive blessing from God. Insult means to speak disparagingly of someone. This word usually has the connotation of saying something that is untrue (which Jesus will highlight in 11e). But this word may also mean to say something that is technically true, but to say it in a way intended to mock and/or shame someone. In this context, Jesus was not promising blessing for any kind of insult whatsoever. But, as shown in 11d, He was talking about insults that come as a result of connection with Christ and following His way and lifestyle.

This proposition is a continuation of the condition when, Jesus said, His hearers were blessed. We are blessed when people persecute us. The word persecute covers a variety of actions intended to harass, inconvenience and somehow inflict harm. It is usually used to describe actions done because of someone's different beliefs or lifestyle, or inclusion in a group seen as undesirable because of beliefs and/or lifestyle. In this context (see 11d), the blessing for being persecuted is limited to persecution caused by being connected with Christ. If we are persecuted for being obnoxious, or for our bad behavior, we cannot claim the blessing which Jesus promised in this verse.

Jesus suggested that we respond to persecution suffered for His sake by rejoicing. We are to be glad when we suffer for Christ. This does not make sense until we connect this with the reason for rejoicing which Jesus will give in 12c. But because of Christ and His truth and promises, we actually can be happy in difficult times. This is because the blessedness we experience in Christ is eternal and therefore it transcends our temporary circumstances, both good and bad.

This proposition is parallel to the previous one. The terms rejoice and be glad are basically synonymous. If there is any difference in meaning, rejoice is more of an inner attitude, and be glad is more of an outward action and demonstration of our gladness. But both terms include the inward attitude and outward response. So, in this passage they are basically interchangeable. Jesus did not repeat His thought with a synonymous term to say something different or to add information. He repeated Himself for emphasis, to highlight the magnitude of the joy which we should experience when we are persecuted for His sake. Again, this does not make sense until it is connected with the reason that Jesus gave in the next proposition.

This proposition is a rhetorical question that expects a negative answer. It functions as a statement that salt which lost its influence cannot be made influential again. Like in the preceding proposition, salt does not change its chemical makeup. So, Jesus was introducing the fact that for salt to love its influence was an unthinkable event, which could not be remedied. For salt not to be salt means that it loses itself beyond repair. It needed more [different] salt to be made salty. It no longer had the saltiness in itself.
In applying this metaphor to His disciples as witnesses and influences on the surrounding society, Jesus probably held to the possibility that un-salty disciples could repent and return to being a positive influence by the convicting and empowering work of His Spirit in their lives. But, like in the warnings included in the letters to the churches in Revelation (see Rev. chs. 2-3), there is a possibility that a church may be so compromised that Christ takes its lampstand away and it ceases to be a church. Here Jesus was strongly warning against His disciples losing their preserving influence in the first place by pointing out that if they are not salty, they are betraying their identity and purpose.

In this proposition, Jesus applied His illustration to the real life of His disciples. We are to let our faith make a difference in every part of our lives so that it is seen by the people around us. Christ should make a tangible difference in our everyday lives so that it is noticeable. The people who know us should be able to see the difference our discipleship has on everything. And this is further explained in the following propositions.

Jesus started this section with a command not to presume. The word presume means to tentatively form an opinion. It has the connotation of a lack of certainty, possibly based on a lack of evidence. Jesus discouraged thinking this certain thing even provisionally. He was saying, in essence, "Don't even give this thought the time of day; don't even consider it, because it is so far from being possible." This idea, which Jesus will specify in the next proposition, is so far from being true that to even consider it tentatively would be silly and unwise.
Unfortunately, some modern Christians presume the exact thing that Jesus will describe, based on a misunderstanding of what Paul taught. Some put Jesus and Paul in opposition. But Jesus and Paul both profoundly agree on what they taught about the Law. It is possible to misunderstand and misapply what each of them taught, because Jesus and Paul were sometimes addressing and pushing back on slightly different errors. They both had to combat both legalism and license at various times. And they did it in various ways, depending on the circumstances. So, we must be careful to read them well, in their context, in order to protect ourselves from error. Jesus clearly said not to presume what He was about to describe. Therefore, we cannot think that. And we must understand all the rest that the Bible says about the Law by taking what Jesus said here into account.

This proposition is the first to define the time frame until which nothing from the Law will disappear. This is put before the main idea for emphasis. It will not happen until heaven and earth pass out of existence. The phrase heaven and earth is not intended to refer to two different entities as much as it is an all-inclusive concept intending to refer to the totality of physical creation as a whole. This phrase refers to the entire created universe, to all of God's material creation. And the term cease to exist means to come to an end so as to no longer exist. It means to disappear and go out of existence, to cease completely. Therefore, Jesus was saying that the next proposition will not be true until this material universe, as we know it, completely ceases to exist. And clearly, that has not yet happened. Other places in the New Testament (e.g. 2 Pet. ch. 3) suggest that the universe (at least in its current state) will pass away in the future consummation of this age. But this is still in the future. And so, the idea He will communicate in the next proposition has not yet taken place. And it won't until this universe ceases to exist.

This proposition describes the conclusion of the condition given in 19a-b. If a person rejects any of the commands of the Law and influences others to do so also, then this proposition will be true of them as well. That kind of person will be judged to be least in the Kingdom of Heaven. The way that Jesus stated this proposition leaves open the possibility that someone may indeed be a part of the Kingdom while still rejecting the Law. This is because membership in the Kingdom is dependent on relationship with the King, and is not dependent on one's view of the Law. However, this also does not guarantee that such a person will experience the Kingdom, because a non-believer can also (and usually does) reject God's moral standards.
Jesus's point was not about this person's membership in the Kingdom (or not). His point was that even if this kind of person is in the Kingdom, they will be judged to be less acceptable and in lower conformity with the values of the Kingdom to the extent that they reject God's revelation. They will somehow, in a way that Jesus did not define, be recognized by all as on a lower level of rank in God's Kingdom. This is an indication of a level of punishment and shame compared with those members of God's Kingdom who do not make this mistake. And therefore, this shows Jesus's disapproval of the attitude and actions He had just described, and serves as a warning for His followers not to fall into this error.

The main emphasis in this proposition is on the phrase before people. this connects with the following proposition to give the main idea of this verse. Jesus was obviously not commanding His followers to not do righteous deeds. But He was commanding them not to do them with a particular attitude and purpose.
Jesus used a general term here, literally do not do your righteousness. Based on the following contexts, this means something like righteous deeds or works of righteousness. These are just various possible was of saying do things that demonstrate and work out your righteousness which actions themselves are righteous and rightly called deeds of righteousness. The term righteousness in this contexts means something that conforms to God's standards and character. And so, these are good deeds that proceed from piety and obedience to God. And they are characterized by upright moral behavior and gracious benefit to those who are recipients of these actions. All of this is good, and Jesus (and the rest of the Bible) commands these kinds of works. Jesus was not forbidding righteous works.
Rather, Jesus was addressing the motive why His followers should do their righteous deeds, and forbidding doing them in a certain manner, and for certain purposes. They were not to be done to be seen by people. Jesus was not forbidding doing any good deeds when there was a possibility that they might be observed. There are some deeds, that by their nature must be done with others present and able to observe. Rather, as shown in the next proposition, we should guard our attitude so that we are not doing them in a conspicuous place and in a conspicuous way that would make them seen by people in order to build up our own pride and reputation. We are not to care whether they are seen or not for our own sake.

This proposition is clearly a purpose statement: in order to be seen for selfish, prideful reasons. This purpose is what Jesus was telling His hearers to guard against, not righteous deeds themselves. Righteous deeds done for righteous purposes are a good thing. We should do them for the purpose of benefiting others. We should do them because they are the right things to do. We should do them for the glory of God. Earlier (5:16), Jesus told His hearers to let their light shine so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father Who is in Heaven. And we should even do them for the reward which we will receive from God.
But the one reason we should not do them is for the acclamation and praise which we expect to receive from other people for doing them. This purpose, Jesus said, is dangerous because it leads to hypocrisy. And it is ultimately fruitless, robbing us of a greater reward.
To say this in contemporary terms, Jesus loves and commands virtue. But Jesus hates and warns against virtue signaling. We have all seen the hypocrisy of many people who seek the spotlight to pontificate and/or protest about some issue that claims to have the moral high ground. But they only do it for selfish benefit, and rarely, if ever, actually do anything beneficial to solve the problem they are talking about. And many times, their actions are ultimately counter-productive.
And another problem with this motive is that the standards of righteousness and praiseworthy behavior held by the people may not be the same as God's standards. If we are doing good deeds for the approval of people, our good deeds are limited to those things which the crowd approves of, which may or may not actually be righteous by God's standards. And we can be manipulated into doing very unrighteous deeds in order to win the approval of unrighteous people.
Jesus strongly warned against an attitude and motive of doing (or pretending to do) good things in order to bolster our reputation for being virtuous and righteous. It is more important to actually be righteous according to God's standards, and not human standards. It is more important to actually do truly righteous things than to receive credit for having done them. And Jesus will go on to tell about the different rewards (good or bad, fleeting or eternal) we can expect for acting out the various motives for our righteous deeds.

The word translated acts of charity is related to the word mercy. It has some connotation of the attitude behind the action, but mostly refers to the benevolent action toward someone in need, based on a kind, merciful attitude. This can refer to any charitable action, but in the New Testament primarily refers to giving of money or goods for the benefit of the poor.
Notice that Jesus did not say if you do acts of charity but He said when you do acts of charity. Charity is not optional for a Christian. It is a given part of a godly lifestyle. This is not because God wants or needs our money and help (which is an absurd idea). It is not even because the poor need our money and help (which is true). It is because God wants us to be conformed to His character. He is generous and cares for those who need His help (which is everyone). And so, He invites us to share in His character and priorities by caring for those in need within our sphere of influence. God does care for the genuinely needy and often meets their needs through His people, like us.
Unfortunately, in our society, a necessary part of charitable giving is discerning between genuine charitable needs and con artists posing as needy people or promoting charitable causes. Not everyone who claims to be needy is genuinely needy. Not every charitable appeal is really a good cause. Some people are unfortunate or disadvantaged poor. And others are the lazy or irresponsible poor. Our giving should take that into account. But we should never use the reality of scammers as an excuse not to give or to keep us from being generous. We just need to work a little harder to do it well.
The New Testament never sets a legalistic amount which we should give, but only says we should give cheerfully and generously in order that people's genuine needs would be taken care of. And in the rest of this passage, Jesus instructed how to do it without prideful hypocrisy, drawing attention to ourselves, and thus robbing ourselves of our reward from God.

This proposition is an introductory statement, introducing what Jesus was about to say in the next proposition. Jesus often used this formula (see v. 5, 16, 5:18), including the word truly to emphasize, not only the truth of what He was about to say, but also its importance. This was a prompter of attention, signaling to His hearers that they should pay particularly close attention to what He was about to say.

Jesus's point in this proposition is that the fleeting glory and pride which they would receive from people witnessing their charity was the only reward they would receive for it. This is in direct contrast to the reward they would have received from God (mentioned in 1e above, and 4b below) if they would have given charity with the proper attitude. Their reward is nothing compared to the reward they missed out on. It is appropriate that in English, the word vanity means selfish pride and it also means to no ultimate result, as in the phrases all is vanity or in vain. That is the point of this proposition. Their vanity is in vain. The momentary rise in reputation sometimes attained by hypocritical pretense to righteousness is worthless. It will do no one any good in the long run, and it is a fool's errand to chase after such vanity. In our culture, it is especially necessary to strongly understand the difference between image and reality. We need to care more about our genuine character than we care about our public image. We need to care more about the kind of people we really are than about what other's think about us. We need to put our energy into actually being virtuous and avoid virtue signaling. Because the former has eternal reward, and the latter is completely worthless.

In this proposition, Jesus used an intentional exaggeration to communicate how secretive our charitable giving should be. It is hyperbolic language that does not really make sense if taken literally (because it was not intended to be taken literally). Rather, it makes His point in an over the top fashion, in order to drive it home.
He said we should do something with our right hand in such a way that our left hand is unaware of it. Of course, neither of our hands do anything on their own. They only do anything because they are connected to our brain. And so, in that sense, our hands are never completely independent. And that is why Jesus used this image - to compartmentalize those things that cannot be totally compartmentalized, as an illustration of the kind of zeal with which we should be secretive in giving. We should take pains not to give in order to be seen. Rather, we should go out of our way not to be seen, as much as possible.

This proposition is an introductory statement, introducing what Jesus was about to say in the next proposition. Jesus often used this formula (see v. 2, 16, 5:18), including the word truly to emphasize, not only the truth of what He was about to say, but also its importance. This was a prompter of attention, signaling to His hearers that they should pay particularly close attention to what He was about to say.

In this proposition, Jesus stressed that the fleeting glory and pride which they would receive from people witnessing their prayer and being impressed with their piety, was the only reward they would receive for it. This is in direct contrast to the reward they would have received from God (mentioned in 6e) if they would have genuinely prayed with the proper attitude and motivation. Their reward is nothing compared to the reward they missed out on. Their momentary rise of reputation before people is worthless. It will do no good in the long run. It is nothing compared to the reality of genuine character, genuine prayer, and our standing in God's opinion, which is the only opinion that truly matters. Reward from God is eternal, and vainglory before people is worthless.

This proposition is the exact same wording as 5a. This demonstrates the parallel structure of these two verses. Verse 5 tells what not to do when you pray. And verse 6 (and following) tells what we should do when you pray.

This proposition is similar to 5a and 6a, but is in a different grammatical form. The word when is not stated, but rather implied. And the form of the word praying shows it to be a subordinate idea, just restated in order to focus on the more primary ideas in 7b-c. This proposition is not the focus of this section, but just a reminder of prayer in order to concentrate on the way not to pray, as communicated in the following propositions.

The reason they pray in the way they do is because of their mistaken belief about God (or the gods they think they are praying to). They have a theological understanding which they believe to be true about the gods, which drives their practice of prayer. But Jesus pointed out that their belief system is wrong, and therefore, they pray in the wrong way - with an abundance of thoughtless words. The next proposition tells exactly what they thought about God and prayer, and how it was wrong.

This proposition is the content of what Gentiles think about prayer, based on what they think about their gods, as introduced in the previous proposition. They think that they will be heard by God (or their gods) because they speak with an abundance of words. They suppose that the more they speak in prayer, the more they will be heard and answered. This is based on the underlying assumption that somehow their prayers hold power over their gods.
This could mean they were thinking in terms of a magic formula - that if they say the right words (like abracadabra), or the right amount of words, their gods will somehow be compelled to answer by the force of their words and/or their abundance. Or their thought process could be in the sense of gaining the attention of the gods by speaking more abundantly - along the lines of the one who speaks the loudest gets heard (the squeaky wheel gets the grease). Or they could think in the sense that they would somehow earn the attention of the gods by their extra effort of praying extensively - they would somehow prove their merit to be answered by praying with more effort, as if they were being paid by the word count. Or they could think in the sense that the amount of prayer could somehow serve or benefit the gods - that the more words used, the more benefit the gods would receive from our prayer, as if the amount of prayer was somehow connected to the amount of honor or empowerment the gods would receive.
All of these possibilities are because of the Gentiles' understanding of their pagan gods and how they could be manipulated and influenced. They thought their gods were somehow needy and/or impressed with their prayers. They thought their prayers had an influence over their gods because their gods were someone subject to whatever influence their prayers, including their length, would have. None of these things is true of our relationship with the True God in prayer, as Jesus will clarify in the following verse.

God is all knowing, and He knows our needs. Notice that Jesus used the word needs and not wants or desires. Of course, God knows these as well. But the focus in prayer should be on what we genuinely need, and on those things that are truly good for us in God's estimation. Therefore, prayer is not just like reading a Christmas list to Santa, telling Him what we want. Prayer may include our requests, but it should be much more than that. To only use prayer to get what we want is to pray with the same attitude as the pagan Gentiles.

And God already knows all our needs long before we ask Him. This means that our prayers are not somehow initiating or motivating God's action. Our prayers don't change God's mind as much as they tap into God's mind - His already existing knowledge, wisdom, and gracious character.

This proposition is the way Jesus taught us to address God in prayer. There are two parts of this address. First, God is our Father. And second, God is the One in the heavens. With these two phrases, Jesus taught the immanence of God - that He is intimately present with us - and also the transcendence of God - that He is high above creation, and greater than all creation. Both are true. And both matter for how we come to God in prayer.
Jesus taught us to approach God as our Father. He has made Himself available to us in an intimate, protecting, providing, leading relationship. God is to us all that we desired from our earthly fathers, and so much more. The ideal of fatherhood comes from God Himself (see Eph. 3:15). And He is the One we should go to with all our issues, needs, and desires, because He genuinely cares for us and every part of our lives (see 1 Pet. 5:7). And we have open access to God (through Christ) as a part of His family (if we are genuine disciples). He is not related to us as an overlord whom we have to approach through channels of hierarchy or bureaucracy. God is our Father, Whom we can approach freely, and with confidence He will hear us and answer us.
But God is also our Father, Who is in the Heavens. In other words, He is infinitely greater than any human father. He is the Father Who is in sovereign control over the entire universe, Who sits as Lord over all. He is not a part of creation, but is over creation as transcendent creator. He is not in time and space, but over time and space. Even though He is intimately present in time and space, He is in no way limited or contained in time or space. And He is omnipotent. He is infinitely powerful and able to do anything that He, in His infinite wisdom, decides to do. So, there is no limit to His ability to answer our prayers in the best way possible. In prayer, we address the only Sovereign Lord of the universe. And so, our prayers must have an attitude of submission and reverence, as well as a confidence that He is powerful to act.

This prayer is a model framework and pattern on which we should build our own specific prayers. As such, the order and development of thought is important. Notice that this model prayer is extremely God-centered. It brings us into God's priorities and activities more than it tries to bring God into our own priorities and activities. And even when it does address our own personal needs and desires, it does it from God's perspective.
This prayer starts with address to God as our Heavenly Father, both immanent to hear and care as Father, but also transcendent as powerful sovereign Lord with full ability to answer any petition. And then it transitions to a request for God's acknowledgment and glory as the Holy One over all, as well as a petition that His will would be accomplished and His plans fulfilled on earth, as in Heaven. Praying these requests is to buy into God's purposes for the universe and make them our own. Thus God's glory and God's purposes take precedence over any of our issues in this model prayer. And only then, flowing out of the request for God's will is the petition for our own needs to be supplied. This is not to downplay any of our needs as insignificant, but rather it raises all our needs and issues into the greater significance of God's overall plan for the universe. And God is honored as the One Who can and will supply all our daily needs. And then, not only are our physical needs addressed to God for provision, but also our spiritual needs for forgiveness are addressed to the same Father Who provides. He provides not only forgiveness for our past sins, as we forgive others, but He also provides protection against present and future temptations and evil. And our prayers are addressed to Him as our Father Who will provide and protect, as part of His grand plan, and for His glory.

This proposition begins with the word for which connects this section with the previous petitions, especially with verse 12. And it is a conditional statement, beginning with the word if. This sets up the condition (which may be true, or it may be false) for 14b. If this proposition turns out to be true (depending on our response) then 14b will be true as well. This proposition uses the same word forgive as was used in v. 12. And our forgiveness in this statement is directed to the people. In other words, the forgiveness which Jesus was describing is totally open ended and applies to any and every situation, and to any and every person. But in this proposition, Jesus used a different word - transgressions - than He used in v. 12. This word means any violation of moral standards, anything that goes against the law and will of God, including all offenses against other humans. It is something that breaks a rule or norm, doing something that is clearly known to be wrong and a violation of God's standards of morality. And the word Jesus used is plural. That means that there are no limitations or exceptions given in this verse of any transgressions that we are not to forgive. As Jesus will say later in Matthew, we are to forgive seventy times seven transgressions (see Matt. 18:22). In other words, there is no limit to the number of transgressions that we are to forgive, any more than there is a limit of our own transgressions for which we may ask forgiveness from God.

This proposition is the continuation and result of the conditional statement begun in the previous proposition. Notice that Jesus referred to God as your heavenly Father using similar language to the way God is addressed at the beginning of the Lord's prayer. It is the same intimate, yet transcendent, Father Whom we address in prayer, Who is the One we look to for forgiveness. And Jesus used the same word forgive as in the previous proposition. The word transgressions is not stated in this proposition, but is clearly implied by the grammar. This proposition does not say that God will forgive you. But it says that God will forgive to you [your transgressions]. The result is virtually the same. But here the connection is more clearly made to the previous proposition by using a parallel structure in the way that it was said.

This proposition is almost exactly the same wording as 14a. Except the phrase the transgressions is implied but not stated for brevity. And this phrase is stated in the negative by the inclusion of the word not - if you do not forgive to people.

This proposition is very similar to 14b, except stated negatively. In the way that He described God, Jesus called Him your Father, leaving out the word heavenly. There is probably no significance to this omission. It is just stylish for brevity. But in this case, Jesus said He will not forgive your transgressions. Jesus used the same words for forgive and transgressions. The transgressions are clearly stated in this proposition through implied in the previous one, which is the opposite of the way it was stated in the previous verse. This is possibly to emphasize that when the transgressions are unforgiven, they are more significantly connected with us, because they are still a stain and weight on our soul. And the word transgressions is plural in this case as well. So, this is a very strong warning that we should avoid unforgiveness to others, because we do not want to bear the burden, guilt, and punishment of our own transgressions before our Heavenly Father.

In this proposition, Jesus told His hearers not to look gloomy and sad when they were fasting. This proposition must be understood in connection with the following propositions. Jesus was not forbidding people from being and/or looking sad. It is legitimate to appropriately grieve when mourning and to show remorse when repenting. Jesus was not forbidding these kinds of expressions and demeanors when done appropriately. What He was forbidding was doing them for prideful and hypocritical motives, as elaborated in the following propositions.

This proposition is the continuation and clarification of the previous one. Jesus was forbidding looking sad in the way that is comparable to what the hypocrites do. The word hypocrite refers to someone who pretends to be or do something that they are not. It is play acting and deception that is not conformed to reality. So, Jesus was forbidding pretend sadness and mourning when fasting. He was forbidding putting on the disguise and expression of repentance and grief if it did not match the reality appropriate for fasting. Again, the issue is not about fasting, but about doing religious rituals for the purpose of appearing to be righteous when in fact you are not actually righteous. Don't be a hypocrite when you fast.

The word translated distort the appearance has the connotation of intentionally making an effort to change their appearance. And in the context of 16b, this means that they took on a dour and gloomy appearance, probably by forsaking regular grooming (see 17b-c). If a person is genuinely mourning and/or repenting, they do not need to make an effort to appear sad. The facial expression comes naturally. but if someone needs to put intentional effort into looking gloomy, that means that they are faking it. In other words, Jesus accused some people of intentionally play acting when they fasted to look more miserable and gloomier than they genuinely were. And they did it for the purpose which will be communicated in the next proposition.

This proposition clearly marks the purpose for why people distort the appearance of their faces, as stated in the previous proposition. They do it to be seen. They do it to draw attention to themselves. And Jesus modified this statement with a few words to specify more clearly what they were doing. They were doing it in order to be seen by people. They were doing it for the approval of others, as Jesus warned against in 6:1. And they were doing it to show off that they were fasting. They wanted to appear to be fasting. And when their natural expression did not show clearly enough that they were fasting to get noticed by others, they intentionally altered their appearance to draw more attention to the fact that they were fasting. And they did all this to be seen by others to be fasting, and therefore, (hopefully) to be seen as more righteous and spiritual. In other words, their primary concern in fasting was not to humble themselves before God, but it was to exalt themselves before other people as more religious and righteous. That is the very motivation and attitude which Jesus was condemning in this whole wider section.

This proposition is an introductory statement, introducing what Jesus was about to say in the next proposition. Jesus often used this formula (see v. 2, 5, 5:18), including the word truly to emphasize, not only the truth of what He was about to say, but also its importance. This was a prompter of attention, signaling to His hearers that they should pay particularly close attention to what He was about to say.

In this proposition, Jesus stated that by being seen by other people and supposedly causing them to think more highly of the person fasting, they received all their reward. The emphasis is on them fully and completely having received all that they would ever receive. They had been paid in full and should expect no other reward. In the larger context of v. 1 and what Jesus had already said in this chapter, this is obviously a contrast with the greater reward which they were missing out on. They got all of the reward they were aiming for, and they would find out that it was a far smaller and more fleeting reward than they had hoped. Everyone finds out sooner or later that the opinions of other people are fickle and not as important as we often think. In this larger section, Jesus's point is to focus on the better reward which comes from God Himself. And by doing righteousness with selfish, prideful motives and manners, we risk losing that greater reward, which is infinitely better than building our image before other people. Our true reality and character before God is more important than our reputation before people. And if our primary goal is to build our reputation, we will see what a weak reward that is.

The verb treasure up is closely related to the noun treasure that refers to that which is treasured. Both words come from the idea of storing something for long term benefit. But they also clearly refer to something that is valuable and worth having and storing because of its value and usefulness. Jesus used the same word here (referring to earthy treasure) that He will use in v. 20 for heavenly treasure. He used the same word for both kinds of treasure, because they are both treasured. But it also clearly implies that they are different kinds of treasure, because one is stored on earth, and one in heaven. By commanding not to store up our treasure on earth, Jesus is setting up a contrast between different kinds of treasure based on where that treasure is located. He will contrast the earthly things we could treasure with the heavenly things we should treasure. Only certain things can be stored on earth, and only certain things can be stored in heaven.
And Jesus commanded that we not treasure the earthly things. This is consistent with other statements in the New Testament, such as 1 Jn. 2:15-17, where John wrote (among other things) Do not love the world or the things in the world. It is important to clearly understand what Jesus and John meant (and what they did not mean) when they said and wrote these things. There is the sense in which we should love the people and things of the world by desiring and working for what is best for them. We should love everyone, including our enemies in this sense. That is the sense in which God so loved the world... (Jn. 3:16). But that is not what Jesus and John were talking about. We should not love the world in the sense that it or anything in it is our ultimate - our highest delight and goal. Because the world and all the treasure that is in it is as dung compared with God and all the heavenly things connected with Him (see Phil. 3:7-9).
And by commanding us not to treasure up treasure on earth, Jesus was indicating that we can, at least to some extent, determine for ourselves what we treasure. Yes, we are influenced by many things. We are drawn away toward useless treasure by our sinful fallen nature. And we need a work of God's Spirit in our lives to see and love the beauty of Christ. but we are also responsible to choose our treasure, to put our mind and affections on the things that we are to treasure as our ultimate. And Jesus commanded us not to do this with earthly things.

This section is the continuation of the comparison and contrast begun in verse 19. And this proposition is parallel to 19a. The wording is almost exactly the same, except this proposition does not contain the word not, and it has the phrase in heaven instead of the phrase on the earth. It uses the same words for treasure up and treasure with the same meanings. But they refer to different realities, and therefore, have different emphases. In this proposition, the word treasure refers to transcendent things; it does not refer to material treasure, but refers to non-material things. Our treasure in heaven refers primarily to God Himself, Who is the greatest treasure imaginable. But this can also include the rewards mentioned (but not defined or described) in the previous passages.
Heaven is defined as the transcendent dwelling place (or throne) of God. So, treasure stored up in heaven is all in relation to God, and ultimately from God, and an expression of His greatness and goodness. Because knowing and experiencing God is the ultimate treasure and goal of any genuine disciple. Because God literally is the One Ultimate Being, our ultimate should be God Himself, and everything only in relation to Him. And therefore, we can treasure up this treasure by knowing and experiencing God through Jesus, through genuine, faithful, obedient discipleship as described in this sermon, and throughout the New Testament.

This proposition gives the point of the entire illustration of the birds. Jesus did not explicitly spell out the point, but rather expected His hearers to grasp the point from the challenge He gave using a rhetorical question. Jesus often used rhetorical questions to communicate His points in a more impactful way that drew His hearers into considering more actively for themselves the implications of a particular truth. He will make the same point much more explicitly as part of the illustration from flowers in 28-30. But here, He invited His hearers to make the conclusion for themselves.
He asked if we are more valuable than birds. And the expected answer is that we are in fact more valuable, not least because humans are created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27) and placed as ruling stewards over all the rest of creation (Gen. 1:28-30, Psalm 8). Jesus used a similar kind of argument in 10:31 and 12:12. And from this expected answer, Jesus wanted His hearers to reason along the following lines, using a from the lesser to the greater kind of argument: 1) God provides for birds, which are less important, 2) since God provides for the less important, we can reasonably expect that He will even more certainly provide for something that is more important, 3) humans are more important than birds, 4) therefore, we can expect that God will more certainly provide for humans, at least as much as He provides for birds, and 5) therefore, we can trust God will provide for us in the appropriate ways, and 6) therefore, we don't have a need to be anxious about our provision of food, because God has demonstrated both His ability and willingness to provide food for us in the appropriate manner.

This proposition is subordinate to the next one, introducing it. This proposition most likely gives the means for the next one. In other words, this tells how - by doing this, by being anxious - the next proposition would be true or happen (or in this case, fail to happen). Someone may try to make their life longer by being anxious, but the next statement declares that this will not work. Or possibly, this proposition may be concessive. In that case, it would be saying something like, even if you are anxious, who of you... In that case, it would be suggesting a hypothetical expectation which someone might have, that their worry would make a difference, in order, in the next proposition, to show that this expectation is not true. In either case, this proposition is setting up for the main point of this verse, which comes in the next proposition. But this proposition introduces the main idea of this larger section (being anxious) in order to complete the point about it in the next.

Like in 26f, Jesus made what was effectively a statement, but He did it using a rhetorical question. He asked who is able to add any time to their life. But He was essentially denying, and forcing His hearers to recognize the impossibility of doing this.
The word translated length is normally a measurement of physical length, and is sometimes translated with the archaic word cubit to represent the length of a typical forearm used to measure things. That is why some people then take the term translated span of your life in the sense of stature or height and translate this proposition as Who can add one single length to your height? This is a possible translation, because the term is used for physical stature in Lk. 19:3. However, this second word almost always means age or maturity, referring to the time span a person has lived. And therefore, it only secondarily can mean physical stature in reference to the fact that children grow taller as they grow older, and reach full height when they are mature of age. So, this term almost certainly refers to the length of life, and then the first term is used metaphorically for adding length to life.
In either case, the point is the same - that we are unable to do it. We cannot - on our own, by our own worry, or even by our own activity - either make ourselves taller or make ourselves live longer. And therefore, worrying is especially ineffective and pointless for this purpose. And modern medicine teaches that anxiety and stress can actually have negative consequences for physical health, possibly shortening a person's life. So, Jesus's point is that sinful anxiety and doubting God is, at best, ineffective and an unnecessary waste of time and energy. And at worst, it is counterproductive, because it takes our focus and energy away from more productive things. And it can take us away from faith in our gracious Heavenly Father into sinful doubt and idolatry.

This proposition is the positive command Jesus gave to His hearers as an alternative to being anxious. The word seek means to desire something, but also to give significant effort to realizing this desire. His disciples should both have affection for, and work toward what Jesus was commanding in this verse. If we say we are following Jesus, but lack either the desire or effort, then we are not living in obedience to this command.
And Jesus said that we are to seek it first. This word does not refer to time, as if we are to seek this earlier than we do other things, although that may end up being the case. This term emphasizes the priority and intensity of our affections and effort. We are to desire and pursue this to a much greater degree than we desire and pursue other things. In this context, we are to put more affection and energy into pursuing this thing than we are to put into being anxious about food, drink and clothing. But this also applies to all other human concerns. There needs to be certain priorities in a disciple's life which are conformed to God's priorities. And Jesus clearly communicated standards for our priorities throughout this sermon, coming to a climax in this verse.
There are two things Jesus stated in this verse that we should seek first: The Kingdom of God, and His righteousness. The Kingdom of God is not explicitly defined in this verse, nor is it clearly defined as such in the New Testament, because Jesus rightly assumed His Jewish hearers would already know what He meant when He used this term. Jesus had already used the term Kingdom in 5:3, 10, 19, 20, 6:10 and He would use it again in 7:21. See the comments on these verses for further definition and discussion of this term.
But in this verse, the definition of His Kingdom, and how we are to seek it primarily has to do with the Kingdom as the full and unmistakable manifestation of God's good and gracious rule. In one sense, God always rules. But in another sense, we don't always experience the full blessing of His rule in this fallen world. So, this command is to wholeheartedly long for God to demonstrate the fullness of His rule, which includes judgment as well as blessing. But this command also includes the idea that we would seek God's rule by willfully submitting to His rule in glad obedience to all that God has required of His people, not in order to earn God's rule and favor, but because God is Lord over all, Who has graciously given us to be a part of His rule and its accompanying blessings. This proposition echoes when Jesus taught His disciples to pray, Let Your Kingdom come, let Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Implicit in that prayer, and in this command, is that God's people would not only welcome that rule, but actively seek and work toward it, as much as it is possible for us to contribute to His rule, and to joyfully submit to His rule and obey His commands.
The second thing that Jesus commanded His hearers to seek was His righteousness. This phrase is parallel to, and related to, God's Kingdom. The concept of righteousness and its related terms is important in the Sermon on the Mount (5:10, 15, 20, 45, 6:1), and in the Gospel of Matthew as a whole (3:15, 9:31, 10:41, 12:37, 13:17, 43, 49, 20:4, 21:32, 23:28, 29, 25:35, 37, 46, 27:19). This vocabulary comes from the legal sphere and refers to being on the right side of a legal and/or moral standard. In the Bible, this is the same language used for the concepts expressed in English by the words justice, just, and justification.
The term righteousness can have a range of possible specific meanings, all within this general idea. It can mean a position or standing of being in the right as far as legal sanction and responsibility. In other words, it can mean the same as being innocent of legal or moral wrongdoing. And it can also mean being on the right side of the law by having paid your debt to society or to the lawgiver. All of these have to do with the standing of a person on the right side of the legal and/or moral standard, as opposed to being guilty or a lawbreaker or a sinner. And this term can also refer to the actions and lifestyle of a person, which is in conformity with the legal and/or moral standard. There can be righteous deeds and attitudes and lifestyles, as opposed to unrighteous or wicked actions and lifestyles. And therefore, there can be righteous people, who typically live in a righteous manner. And this language can also refer to the standard itself as the proper measurement of what is good and true and right.
With God, the legal and moral standards are the same, because He is the ultimate lawgiver and the ultimate standard of right and wrong. Therefore, any transgression against His moral standards is also a transgression against His legal sanctions, as well as being an affront to His person and dignity. With human standards, it is possible for something to be immoral, but not illegal, or illegal, but not immoral. This is not the case with God. And throughout the Book of Matthew, especially in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus regularly contrasted God's ultimate perfect standards of righteousness with various human standards. The Pharisees thought their traditions and rules were in line with, and even guarding and improving God's standards of righteousness. But Jesus clearly disagreed in many cases.
Jesus commanded His hearers to seek His righteousness, that is, God's righteousness. Of course, God's righteousness is the same as Jesus's righteousness, but that is not relevant to the point that Jesus was making. Jesus was contrasting God's righteousness with human righteousness. Earlier in this sermon, Jesus had made it clear that our own righteousness is not enough unless it surpasses the righteousness of the Pharisees (5:20), which it is not likely to do on our own. And our righteousness is not enough unless we are perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect (5:48), which is impossible to do on our own. A lot of the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is aimed at raising our standard of righteousness to which we are aspiring and working, while at the same time, forcing us to despair of reaching that standard of righteousness on our own. We can never do it, though we should desire and strive to live this way.
All this is to point us away from our own righteousness, the way of depending on our own merit, and to point us to an alien righteousness and power for righteous living that comes from God alone. We are not to seek our own righteousness, but His righteousness. Jesus is beginning to reveal that there is a righteousness available to God's people that comes from Him as a gift. This will only be fully developed in the rest of the New Testament, but Jesus is showing the necessity of this different kind of righteousness. This righteousness is a position and standing before God graciously given to His people by means of relationship with Christ and the atonement He brings. This righteousness is a gift, which we should long for. Like the Kingdom of God, we cannot bring this about on our own, nor even contribute to it. But in the same way, we can respond to it, and live our entire lives in light of it, and strive to live in conformity with this righteousness from God which we don't deserve on our own. We should seek to live in conformity with this righteousness we have been given in Christ, but never think that we have this righteousness because of an obedience and conformity on our part. We are to live righteously because we have been given righteousness from God. We are not given God's righteousness because we live righteously, as will be clearly stressed later in the New Testament.
These are the two things we are commanded to seek as first priority: His Kingdom, and His righteousness. This is the positive activity given to us an alternative to being anxious. And this command comes with a promise given in the next proposition.

This proposition is the promise attached to the previous proposition. If we seek first God's Kingdom and righteousness, Jesus promised that all these things will be added to God's Kingdom and righteousness as a bonus. Even without seeking God's things, the gentiles get the bare minimum of provision, solely because of God's goodness to His creation. How much more should we expect God to provide the simple things of physical provision when He is also graciously granting the full privileges of His Kingdom rule and righteous standing to those who seek Him.
In this verse, the phrase all things obviously refers to sufficient food, drink, and clothing mentioned in the previous context. This is not a blanket promise for anything and everything we may selfishly desire. And if someone thinks they are seeking God's Kingdom, but doing it primarily in order to get luxuries, they are probably not genuinely seeking God's Kingdom and righteousness.
And the term provided is the same word used in v. 27 for adding something to our life. In this context, it means graciously adding something to someone else as a means of providing it by grant. It is a gift put into the life of God's people because of His generosity, not something they earn themselves. And it is added, in addition to all the phenomenal blessings of His Kingdom experienced because we have been granted standing with His righteousness. If we fixate anxiously on food and clothing, we miss out on God's Kingdom and all its blessings. However, if we focus on God's Kingdom, we get food and clothing thrown into the blessings.
This promise assumes God's power and willingness to grant all of these things, which was plainly argued in all of the passage above. But it also clearly demonstrates that God is not like humans. Humans, even with the best of intentions, will often let us down. They try, but are not sufficiently able. God never will let us down. God's promises never fail, because God is unable to fail. This is a solid promise of fact, based on God's character and omnipotence. However, we need to be careful to remind ourselves that this is not a precise promise of the manner, timing, or extent in which this promise will be fulfilled. It is necessary to guard our hearts and live with faith and gratitude. Otherwise, we will be tempted to doubt and grumble if this promise is not fulfilled in the exact timing and way that we expect or desire. God will always keep His promises, but not necessarily in the way that we think He should. Nevertheless, this promise is a solid foundation that sustains us against anxiety and motivates us to seek first His Kingdom and righteousness.

The word tomorrow is the same word used in the previous proposition. It still can be referring to the near-term future (including the time after the very next day). But in these last two propositions, it more likely should be taken literally to mean only the following day, because the point is that each individual day should be dealt with on its own.
And the word translated be anxious is the same word used throughout this passage (vv. 25, 27, 28, 31, 34a). However, in this proposition, tomorrow is the subject of this verb. It is tomorrow that will be anxious. This proposition is not a command to us, like the other uses of this word in this passage, but it is just a simple statement of the fact that tomorrow will be anxious. This could be taken as stating a bad thing, or it could be taken as stating a good thing. Most likely, based on the following proposition, Jesus was just neutrally stating a fact. Tomorrow will be anxious for tomorrow. And that is the reason not to be anxious about tomorrow today. Tomorrow's anxieties will take place tomorrow, and therefore, it is fruitless and unnecessary to be anxious about tomorrow today.
And the grammar of the last word in this proposition is somewhat ambiguous. Literally it is tomorrow will be anxious of itself. This could mean that it will be anxious about itself. That is, tomorrow will be the object and topic about which it will be anxious. Or it could mean that it is anxious for itself. In other words, tomorrow will be anxious on its own accord, without our input or help. There is some truth in each of these possibilities. And either option gives good reasons for the command not to be anxious about tomorrow. But this ambiguity is ultimately answered by the context and content of the next proposition.

The word Jesus used, which is translated problems is the generic word for evil or bad. Here it most likely does not have any connotations of moral evil. But rather, Jesus intended to refer to the general bad and/or hard experiences, or difficulties we can typically encounter in any given day. And He more specifically described that word by saying its [own]. That is certainly referring to each individual day, as He will state later in this proposition. So, Jesus was talking about whatever difficulties and trials and needs would be encountered on any particular day.
And the word sufficient means enough, adequate - no more is needed. And this word is emphasized by its position in the sentence - literally, sufficient for each day is its difficulties. Jesus stressed that each day had an adequate amount of difficulties on its own. No more bad things are ever needed to be imported from other days. There is one day's worth of troubles for each day, and that is enough. Therefore, there is one day's quota of needed concern for each day, and adding anxiety would be sinful, stupid, unnecessary, and counterproductive. Therefore, we should deal with it as it comes. There is enough to handle today, and so we don't need to add tomorrow's anxiety to today.
And again, I need to make the disclaimer: Jesus was not saying we should be irresponsible or fail to plan for the future. We should use all necessary foresight and make responsible decisions and actions. That is not what Jesus was forbidding in this passage. He was prohibiting sinful anxiety that is the product of unbelief.
But Jesus's point in this passage is that we should deal with each day's difficulties without sinful anxiety and doubt in God's goodness, ability, or provision. We should trust God for tomorrow, because we are not God. We are not able to control tomorrow, and worrying about it will not help tomorrow at all. Rather, we should submit to God, and rely on Him to guide and provide for tomorrow. Tomorrow will take care of itself tomorrow, and we should not be anxious about it today. Today has enough problems on its own, without worrying about tomorrow.
There is one additional thought that was not part of Jesus's intention in this proposition, but which is still true and applicable, flowing out of what Jesus said: Because each day's difficulties are sufficient for each day, neither should we err in the opposite direction by trying to push today's difficulties into tomorrow by laziness and procrastination. Be wise and diligent to deal with today's issues today. If we leave them for tomorrow, we will be overwhelmed trying to deal with them in addition to all of the new difficulties that will come with tomorrow. Procrastination and avoiding of issues will come back to bite us if we are foolish not to address them at the proper time.

In this passage, Jesus forbade judging. However, the word judge has a wide variety of possible meanings [All of the definitions in this section are loosely taken from the BDAG lexicon]. And so, we need to look at the context to help determine which of those possible meanings Jesus intended (and did not intend) to communicate. Judge may mean simply to make a selection among possible alternatives. It may mean to make a judgment after considering evidence - to come to a conclusion, to reach a decision after a mental process. It may have a more formal meaning such as to engage in a legal/court process, where a legitimate authority exercises legal oversight and judgment, possibly including punishment. It is what God does when He judges the world. And this word may possibly mean to ensure true justice - to see to it that justice is actually done. The immediate context (as well as the wider Biblical teaching) probably rules out most or all of these meanings. Jesus was not forbidding any of these things.
The word judge may also mean to (mentally) pass judgment on the lives and actions of other people, and based on this, to try to influence them. This also has a range of possibilities. A parent may judge that their child is tying their shoes improperly and try to teach them the right way to do it. Someone may make a correct judgment and express their opinion about any number of topics. None of these things seems to fit what Jesus was prohibiting. Or this may also have the idea of passing an unfavorable judgment - to criticize or condemn. This seems to be a lot closer to what Jesus was intending to forbid. However, this also can be a legitimate and righteous action. We should all condemn things like murder and child exploitation, etc. And there is something wrong with us if we don't.
From the context that follows, Jesus seems to have been forbidding this kind of negative criticizing and condemning others if it is done in an overly critical, fault-finding and hypocritical attitude. From the context, and the rest of the Bible, it seems that Jesus was not forbidding us to judge. But He was prohibiting us from judging in a certain way - with a certain attitude that will be illustrated and elaborated in the following verses.

Before Jesus illustrated and elaborated on the kind of judgment that He was prohibiting, He first gave the reason and purpose for us to obey His prohibition. We are to avoid judging in the way that He was talking about, in order that we would not experience the same kind of judgment. We can refrain from doing the sinful, prohibited kind of judgment based on our intention of avoiding this same level of judgment from God.
In the following verses, Jesus will elaborate on this standard - that we will be judged with the standard we use to judge others. Earlier in this sermon (6:14-15), Jesus warned that if we do not forgive others, our Heavenly Father will not forgive us. Later, in v. 12, Jesus commanded us to give to others as we would wish to receive. And later in Matthew (18:23-35), Jesus told a parable about a man who was forgiven a huge amount of money by the King. But who then persecuted another for a relatively small amount of money. The point that Jesus made by this story is that such a person will again be held liable for the things he had previously been released from, because he refused the same kind of grace to others. Throughout the Bible, we are told of God's poetic justice, where people fall into the same traps and misery they intended for others (e.g. the fate of Haman in the Book of Esther). And throughout the Bible, we are told to forgive others, as we have been forgiven (e.g. Eph. 4:32).

In this proposition, Jesus first labeled the behavior described in vv. 3-4 for what it really is. He addressed His hearers (to whatever level the story of vv. 3-4 applied to them) as hypocrites. The word hypocrite means a person who pretends to be something different than they really are. It was used in a neutral way for stage actors, because everyone knew they were pretending/acting. But here it is used in a negative sense for people who are pretending in a dishonest way. They are deceitfully hiding who they really are and claiming to be something else. They are pretending to be sinless and better than others, when in truth they are not. Sometimes a hypocrite is conscious of their own deceitfulness, and they are doing it on purpose. And other times, a hypocrite is self-deceived, and they are fooling themselves as much or more as they are fooling others. In the hypothetical story of vv. 3-4, it is hard to believe that if someone was walking around with a beam in their eye, no one would have mentioned it to them. But the story implies that they were unwilling and unable to acknowledge that they had a log in their own eye. And Jesus tells the truth about them (and us) in order to make them/us own up to the problem, and be more willing to follow the solution.
And the solution which Jesus proposed is to remove the beam from your own eye first. This means that we must acknowledge the beam, and the sin that it represents. We must own up to our own sin and need of righteousness which we don't have, and cannot have, on our own. We must confess and forsake all known sin, and ask for forgiveness, and trust in God's given process to receive atonement and reconciliation. This, naturally, is humbling, and does not allow us to continue with pretense or arrogance toward others. This humility is a key benefit that will allow us ot be free, and then to help others.
And Jesus did not say that we need to be perfectly speck-free and sinless all at once, or that we could ever achieve sinless perfection in this life. But this signifies that we would be honest with ourselves about our sin, and fight all known sin, and be open to correction on unknown sin. We learn from the rest of Scripture that this fight against sin is a lifelong process. But it is a process in which we are more and more victorious by the power of God's Holy Spirit in us, as we participate in the fight.
And notice that Jesus used the word first in this proposition. Our removing of our own log is the immediate action we need to take, but it is not the last action. It is the most important and necessary action, but it is not the only action Jesus was commanding. And we don't need to wait until we are speck-free before we can move on to (also) doing other righteous and helpful things, as Jesus will command in the next proposition.

This proposition is a subordinate, preparatory action for the next, main action. The beasts turn in order to tear. This is possibly a picture of the swift change from appearing harmless to showing their true, wild and dangerous nature. This is similar to the phrase of a person or animal turning on you, which means that they suddenly attacked you.

This is the completion of the warning against entrusting precious and holy things to beasts and fools. Not only will they reject and show contempt for holy things, they will also attach and harm those who know their true value. The picture is obviously taken from the metaphor of dogs, and how they attack, bite, and tear their prey to pieces. Just like dogs bite and tear, the beastly people try to destroy those who differ from their opinion. Everyone has an ultimate loyalty - a god. And all ultimate gods are jealous gods. People will either submit to the true God or they will hate and fight against Him in the service of their idols. And if they hate and fight against God, they will hate and fight against all those who stand for and serve God (see Jn. 15:18-16:4).
People can rarely be trusted to give fair, impartial judgment unless they have been strongly influenced by a strong Judeo-Christian cultural influence. Historically, the ideas and practices of impartial justice have only flourished in societies with a decisive Christian impact. Without this foundation, people and societies have treated people according to the selfish desires of those who have the most power, and treated them in beastly ways. Christians are never to submit to the judgment of these kinds of people under these kinds of influences, because it will only end in harm and bloodshed - sometimes literally. History has shown that the morality and character of the people entrusted to enact justice is as important as the laws which they are administering. When beastly and foolish people make judgments, justice is destroyed and people are harmed.

Jesus used the word all to stress the comprehensiveness of the this promise. Not just some of the people who ask, but all the people who ask are receiving. There is a direct correspondence between the asking and receiving. Of course, this is subject to all the qualifications mentioned above. But Jesus stressed the certainty of the response from God to the genuine humble requests of His people.
Asking is the same word from 7a. And receiving is in the present tense. This signifies either that this is a general, proverbial action, that happens on a regular basis. Or it signifies that in the process of asking, the receiving is immediately in process of happening, even if the delivery is delayed until the appropriate timing.

This proposition is in parallel to the previous one and has the same general point. It just echoes the wording of the second of Jesus's earlier commands - that we should seek, because we will find (7c-d). This proposition does not explicitly say all those seeking like the previous proposition. But the way it was stated implies that everyone who does in fact seek will also find. It is, like the previous statement, a clear promise of success when we do our part.

This proposition is parallel to the previous two, corresponding to Jesus's command to knock, with the promise of having the door opened (7e-f). This also is a clear promise of success when we follow Jesus's commands in this section.

This proposition is the punch line for all of verses 9-11. Jesus has argued from the lesser to the greater. He had established that sinful human fathers give good things to their children when they ask. And here He proved that God is even more inclined to give good things, and therefore, more certain to give good things. God is called our Father, showing that He has this kind of caring and providing relationship with His people. But He is not just called our Father. He is called our Father in the Heavens. The One Who cares and provides as our Father is also the Sovereign Lord over the entire universe. He is the powerful ruler over all.
This is a contrast of magnitude and degree. Human fathers are inclined to, and successful in, giving good gifts on a finite, sinful, human level. And therefore, we should expect that God is inclined to, and successful in, giving good gifts on an infinite, heavenly, perfect, holy level.
There is no comparison. There is no chance that God will be unable to fulfill the request. There is no chance that God will misunderstand the request. There is no chance that God will lack wisdom and misjudge whether something is a good gift or a bad gift. There is no chance that God will be having a bad day or be grumpy, and withhold some good thing out of spite. There is no chance that God will lack the generosity and gracious will to bless and take care of His children, especially if they are asking for the kind of things Jesus was teaching in the Sermon on the Mount.
Because God is infinitely better and more generous than any human father, we can, and we should, ask, seek, and knock, with full assurance that our Heavenly Father will give us good things in response. Our assurance of receiving our request is based on God's good character and willingness to give, which cannot fail to be magnitudes better than the generosity and character of the best of human fathers. Therefore, we should obey Christ's command to make our requests to God.

This is an extremely open and broad statement - whatever or as much as you wish. This is analogous to a genie giving unlimited wishes. Jesus was inviting His hearers to dream big in honestly thinking about what they really wanted. Of course, this is just a setup for the rest of the verse, where He will ask His hearers to do these these things for others. And that is why He wanted them to imagine without limits to what they would want. However, this is qualified by the context, as seen in the next proposition.

In this proposition, Jesus qualified our wishing by what other people can do for us. We cannot realistically think that others could make us 12 feet tall or give us the ability to fly. People (including us) are finite and limited in what they can do. Humans cannot solve the problems of poverty and hate (because we are the cause of the problem). Equal outcomes from unequal people is never realistic, and always breed profound injustice when attempted. We should not expect any human to function as our savior. Only Jesus can truly save and satisfy us. Only Jesus can bring true and lasting peace and prosperity. And anyone else who thinks or claims they can is deceived and/or deceiving. We should be realistic about what we and others can do.
But Jesus is still inviting us to honestly assess how we would like to be treated by other people, in order to give us the standard by which we should treat other people.
Our discernment of what we want from others needs to be filtered by wisdom and Christian ethics. Wives, don't give your husband diamond earrings just because that is what you want. That is not what he wants to receive, and he won't wear them. And if someone asks you for money to buy heroin, or asks you to support their right to murder their unborn child, the proper response is a polite but firm No, because I care for you too much to do that. We should discern what we want (and therefore, what we should do for others) in the same way that God, as our good Father, gives only good gifts. We don't want a rock instead of bread. And therefore, we should give bread, and not a rock.
We should be honest and reasonable about what we would really want for our long-term good, if we were in other people's situations. And that means that we should not settle for the quick fix that makes people temporarily feel good, but does not address the long-term solution to their real deep needs.
And our assessment of what we want others to do for us should be conformed to all that Jesus had previously taught in the Sermon on the Mount. We should not want others to be murderers, liars, adulterers, greedy, anxious, judgmental, etc. toward us. We should reasonably want them to treat us the way that Jesus taught people to act in this sermon.

This is the same word for gate that was used in the previous proposition. It is still a transition point, a boundary that one passes for entrance into some state and/or experience. But from the context, here it obviously refers to a different gate - one that is wide. In the contrast with the narrow gate, this particular gate is easy and comfortable to access. Because of its ease, this is seen as the default entrance for all people, unless they strive to enter the other gate. And in this connection, it is noteworthy that this is the same word (gate) used in 16:18 to describe the gates of hades.

And Jesus expanded His description of this option by describing not only the gate, but also the road. Presumably, this is the road on either side of the metaphorical gate. And this road is spacious, which implies ample room and ease of travel. Because of its ease of travel, this reinforces the assumption that this is the default way and destination of humanity unless something intervenes. It is the easy way that we all naturally gravitate toward. And Jesus reinforced this later in the passage, when He said that only a few find the other, better way.

This proposition contains an exclamatory expression how! to emphasize the degree of narrowness. Jesus did not just say the gate is narrow, but He said, How narrow is the gate! as if He were feigning surprise at how narrow it actually is. And the words narrow and gate are the same words He used in 13a.

Not only did Jesus say that the gate is narrow, but He also said that the way is difficult and constricted. This is the opposite of the broad way that leads to destruction (see 13b-d). It is a similar metaphor to a narrow two-lane mountain road, where one needs to drive extra carefully to avoid the cliff on one side and the oncoming traffic on the other side. There is less room for wandering or inattentive travel on this kind of way. This also has the connotation of being like a narrow hallway with many people trying to move at the same time. There is little room to move and it is constraining and uncomfortable.
This dramatic way of saying it highlighted the truth that His way is focused and purposeful. One needs to intentionally follow this way, because our fallen nature will never lead us through this gate automatically. It goes against our selfish inclinations for ease and comfort. It is often constraining and uncomfortable, and our sinful nature needs to be suppressed in favor of the higher calling and destiny. If anyone is tempted to despair at how difficult the Christian life can be, they should be reminded of the command of Jesus in verses 7-11 - to ask and seek from God, which includes the promise that God will answer and we will find. If you need strength to walk the narrow way, ask God and seek Him, and you will find the strength.
The faithful Christian life is not easy. But it is totally worth it, because Jesus said that this way leads to life, in contrast with the destruction which is the destiny of the other way. It is just the opposite of the previous option - where the way was easy, but painful in the end. This way is difficult, but joyous in the end. The elite athlete knows from experience that the long hours of difficult training are painful and inconvenient. But they do it for the hope of winning the prize. And when they win the gold medal, they realize that all of the difficult training was worth it to reach their goal. In the same way, the faithful follower of Christ will find many difficulties in this life. But we will gladly go through the constraining and painful experiences because of our assured hope of the eternal life which Jesus has promised.

In this proposition, Jesus begins to describe how we can discern who is a false prophet. He will illustrate this concept in the following propositions, but here it is simply stated using a common metaphor of fruit. Fruit metaphorically stands for the results and produce from something. Jesus suggested we examine the long-term results of someone's life and teaching in order to see if it produced good or bad results. It is very easy to promise that an idea or action will bring a good result, but the real test comes when that idea or action is put into practice and its actual, real-life results are examined.
Our society is filled with examples of bad consequences from things that may have sounded good at first, when they only existed in the realm of ideology and propaganda, and before they were implemented in the real world. Many politicians make great sounding promises, but the results of their policies don't actually deliver, or they have unintended bad consequences. For example, the proponents of the sexual revolution promised liberation, but brought about broken families through divorce, the explosion of STDs, the bondage of sexual addiction, the murder of millions of innocents, and a variety of perversions and confusions to the point that many cannot even tell if they are a boy or a girl. Those who demanded that God be removed from the public square promised a more rational and peaceful common discourse built on secular principles and scientific truth. But this has resulted in exploding tribalism and fanaticism, the kind of political correctness that fanatically tries to silence and punish all dissenters, and the censoring of all viewpoints that do not align with the politically and/or ideologically determined science and the canceling/de-personing of those who hold those viewpoints.
Heresies of all kinds may seem enlightened and freeing at first. But all deviations from God's truth are ultimately cruel and bring untold misery, because they are rejecting and fighting against reality itself and the Lord or all reality Himself. And those who are caught up in those kinds of lies will share in its failure and consequences.
And history has shown that faithfulness to God's truth has always brought the greatest blessing and prosperity in the long run. The Gospel has lifted the quality of life and the justness of all societies in which it has taken hold.

This verse is another strong warning. It is a continuation of the warning against false prophets, elaborating on the kind of fruit that is genuine evidence, and the kind that is not. But this also shifts into a warning for all to not presume on their own status. It is relatively easy to call Jesus Lord and not mean it. And it is also possible to think that we are living in obedience and under the Lordship of Christ, while not actually submitting to Him in heartfelt obedience. Many people are attracted to the benefits of Christ, or go to Christ for a fire-insurance ticket to avoid hell. But they don't actually know and love Christ Himself. They are only interested in His benefits. They claim to be serving Christ, but in their inward attitude, they are still just serving their own desires, and trying to use Christ in that service. And they may not realize that this is what they are doing. Therefore, this serves as a strong warning to every Christian to examine our hearts and guard against this type of self-deception and hypocrisy. Is Jesus truly our Lord, or are we still enamored with worldly idols and only paying lip service to Christ?
And notice that in the historical context of the Sermon on the Mount, before Christ was crucified and risen, He was working from the standpoint that it is appropriate for people to call Him Lord. He was already clearly claiming to be an authority of the highest magnitude, worthy of service and obedience, even though He had not yet revealed the full extent of His identity and mission. And He claimed to be instrumental for a person's entrance into the Kingdom.
Jesus warned that not everyone will come to experience and share in the fullness of His eternal Kingdom. Not even everyone who expect that they will enter the Kingdom actually will. This is a sobering passage, but an important passage to motivate us to pursue the narrow way that leads to life, and not to complacently slip into the broad way that leads to destruction (see vv. 13-14).

This is a continuation of the contrast begun in the previous proposition. The contrast he made was not between going to Him and obeying God, as if obedience to God would earn entrance into the Kingdom. The contrast He was making was between mere lip service and genuine conversion to Him, which results in heartfelt obedience.
Doing the will of my Father in Heaven is a broad statement which includes at least all of the previous material from the Sermon on the Mount. In that sense, this statement is parallel to the next major section (7:24-27), where Jesus compared those who put His words into practice to a man who built his house on a rock, and those who didn't to a man who built his house on sand. And, as taught throughout the Sermon on the Mount, acts of obedience are inseparable from the proper inward motivations and intentions for those deeds. But also, in light of the entire New Testament, the will of the Father includes trusting in Christ as Savior and submitting to Him as Lord (see e.g. Jn 6:29). The rest of the New Testament lays out the details of a Christian ethic of a life that is pleasing to the Father. But it also clearly asserts that we cannot live this ethic on our own strength, and we need the presence of God's Spirit and New Birth in our lives, which only comes through faith in Christ. Doing the will of the Father is the result of genuine discipleship and saving faith. It can never be the cause of it.
And in light of the following verses, it is also possible to do many apparently impressive outward things, without them being evidence of genuine conversion. Many good works (like the works of the Pharisees) can be done for motives of personal pride and gaining a reputation for godliness (see 6:1-18). But those works are not the same as doing the will of the Father. The key factor is that our works are done in obedience to the Father, and presumably for His pleasure and reward, and not a reward before people.

The activity of the wise man in Jesus's illustration is that he built his house on the rock. Jesus did not mention anything about the construction of the house itself (its materials or workmanship). But He only mentioned the foundation upon which it was built. He will bring out the significance of this later in 25f.

This proposition is very similar to 24d. See the comments there. But here, the foolish man built his house on a foundation of sand.
This is an illustration of a foolish person who does not build their life on the foundation of Christ. Rather they trust in their own righteousness, their own way of doing things, their own wisdom, and their own standards of judgment. There are a lot of people who act like they are smarter than God, because they reject His standards and substitute their own. But in doing so, they show that they are actually fools.
Jesus warned against this when He said that unless your righteousness surpasses the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven (see 5:20). And the rest of this passage shows the result of someone who follows this foolish way of life.
And the illustration of sand is appropriate for a foolish foundation, specifically because sand is not stable. Sand is movable, and its overall form shifts and changes. And therefore, it is not solid and stable and reliable.
In a similar fashion, many people try to build their lives on subjective whims and fashions, and claim that ethics are situational and that truth and meaning are subjective and determined only by the individual. History is full of the catastrophes and atrocities that result from this kind of mindset. Those who marry the spirit of the age are soon widowed. Those who change their position to please the mob are soon destroyed by the mob when the mob has changed its position. To build a life on anything less solid than Christ and His teaching is a very dangerous and foolish thing to do.